JPCC chief Pradeep Balmuchu joins AJSU party

Former Jharkhand PCC president Pradeep Kumar Balmuchu on Thursday joined the AJSU party, saying he had been sidelined in the Congress for the last few years.

The three-time MLA from Ghatsila was welcomed by AJSU party president and former deputy chief minister Sudesh Kumar Mahto at the partys Milan Samaroh here.

Some of Balmuchu's supporters also joined the AJSU party.

When asked about the reasons to quit the Congress, Balmuchu said, "There are many reasons, but in the last two years I found that there was no place for me in the party. Whatever issues I had raised, were ignored," Balmuchu said.

Balmuchu had represented the Congress in the Rajya Sabha and held the post of Jharkhand Pradesh Congress Committee chief for several years.

"I talked to my supporters, who suggested that I join the AJSU party and I did so," he added.

Balmuchu has become the third political leader in the state to have joined the AJSU party from other parties.

Former BJP chief whip Radhakrishna Kishore joined the AJSU party on Tuesday while former JMM MLA Akeel Akhtar was inducted into the AJSU party on Wednesday.

Jharkhand is going for elections in five phases between November 30 and December 20 and counting will take place on December 23.